Your Dog Magazine April 2025 Vorige editie

How well we communicate is not determined by how well we say things but how well we are understood.”
I enjoy a good quote and think that this one, attributed to businessman, Andrew Grove, is really poignant. It applies across all facets of life, but you can see the value when it comes to our relationships with our dogs. The better our dogs can understand us, and, us understand them, the better relationships we will have.
Our efforts to reach a greater understanding are often focused on the dog. But what happens when we switch this view to ourselves? Does the dog understand what we want? Are we using the right methods? Have we stopped to think how our dogs will interpret our behaviours? We’re the ones who are asking dogs to fit into our lifestyles and the responsibility is on us to communicate what we need from our canine companions.
That’s what this month’s lead feature is about. Expert dog trainer, Tony Cruse, takes us through how we can change our behaviours to give our dogs better lives. It’s enlightening and the great news is, often we only need to tweak our behaviour. Small changes can make a huge difference. Interestingly, part of this process is allowing our dogs to be dogs! I recommend giving it a read, as you might just find a breakthrough with your own pet.
When I was reading the feature back, it was also a reminder just how much we love our dogs. We want to understand each other as we want to share our lives together. And inside this issue, you’ll find lots of inspiration of things to do together.
A ride on a steam train, anyone?